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Is “dämlich” actually commonly used for “dumb”? I was watching a German dub of a cartoon I like, and kept hearing it. Sounds pretty sexist, oder?
Yeah, dämlich is definitely common. I just didn’t include it here because it’s an adjective and there’s not a “person”-version.
Why would it sound “sexist” though? Works fine for both genders :)
Auf Englisch, zumindest in Neuseeland, nennen wir die Deppenapostrophe “the greengrocer’s apostrophe”, denn Zeichen in Obst/Gemueselaeden haben oft falsche Grammatik (aehnlich wie dieser Satz, vielleicht?)
Ich meine aber, dass dieser Begriff nicht so gemein ist, als “Deppenapostrophe”
Oh same here. A certain author who has written some VERY successful “fun” books about how Germans mess up their language, compiled pictures of signs with bad typo into a book.
I’m not gonna say his name though, because Sebastian Sick is not funny, he’s a pedantic prescriptive grammar nazi, a Klugscheißer and he makes money poking fun from other people’s not having had the same education he g… oh wait, I just did say his name :). Seriously, he’s an idiot.
Cuss words and insults are usually the first people search for, when learning a language, but I think I accidently skipped this part.
Great post, I’ll try use some of these with my friends, just so they know I’m not messing around when I say I’m learning german.
I love this blog….you have to find someone to do an Italian one…..unless this us one of your talents. 30 year ago, “du Esel” was what we were taught. Literally from the textbook. Probably a bit mild and uncool now.
Horst in this sense is used for both sexes? Using “given name” and “family name” might help to eliminate the difficulty of remembering which is a “surname.” They seem to be the preferred terms these days, at least in Australia.
Frohe Weihnacht und vielen Dank für den ganzen Adventkalender.
I definitely use “Honk” for my girlfriend, but it doesn’t feel as natural as for a guy. I never called her Horst, I think :)
Vielen dank – Es wird bald zeit sein, um die Versammlungsfamilie mit lustigen Beleidigungen zu unterhalten! Besonders mit meinen kindischen Vettern. Und ich würde INEPT oder KLUTZY anstatt GOOFY verwenden. GOOFY ist definitiv komisch
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Regional thing once again – I’ve never ever heard of “Honk” being used in this sense (or any other – the only “honk” I’ve ever used / heard use is the English word for “hupen” – to honk one’s horn). Maybe it’s common in Berlin, but it certainly isn’t in Southern Germany! “Horst” isn’t very common, either, but I’ve heard it. “Vollpfosten” is and so is “Schwachmat” (one of my personal favourites :-) ) and then, of course, you have the wonderful “Depp” or “Volldepp” (du Depp, du Depp, du Depp, du depperter Depp, du!!)
Are there some more common ones in the South that you know of? Would be interesting for me :)
Schön, einige von denen hatte ich nie gehört, nämlich Vollpfosten, Schwachmat, Honk und Horst.
Lol, “if you bitch the Vollpfosten”. I think you mean either “if you bitch *about* the Vollpfosten” (complain about the person to your friends) or less likely, “if you bitch *at* the Vollpfosten” (if you actually complain directly to the person).
Oh, another typo. I’m such a Horst. I meant “about” :)
Sorry to high jack this post a little but seeing as you were talking about insults and mild cussing I have a question. On this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VxejH0s4qdY episode of simpsons YouTube one of the scenes involves the Germans expressing surprise at the state of the power plant. Watching from 1:50 to 2:00 reveals 2 expressions. The first one I think is “ach du liebe”, but I’m not sure if I heard it right or what it means. Well obviously it’s like “oh my goodness” or similar. The second I’m sure of “Gott im Himmel” which is more like “goodness me” or “oh my god”. Can you help me identify the first expression when they find the raccoons. Thanks.
You heard that right. He is saying “Ach du lieber, raccoons.” . By itself, “Ach du lieber” actually doesn’t work. The full phrase is “Ach du lieber Gott”.
I don’t think they did too much research here :).
By the way, I find the German accent really hard to understand which means it’s badly done. Because I KNOW German accent :).
Nice episode by the way. Those were the golden days. Saw one Simpsons from 2013 today and it was borderline incoherent.
I think der Trottel would be best translated in currently used English (Northern English at least) as “plodder”. Quite a similar meaning too. Interesting page, thank you!
I am quite sure that “Honk” is an acronym of “Hilfsarbeiter ohne nennenswerte Kenntnisse” = “assistent worker without noteworthy skills”. It is of course not always used with that in mind.
I’ve heard “Hauptschüler ohne…” but as far as I know it’s likely that the word itself was there first, and then came the long form.
Schwachmat reminds me of Schachmatt.
I actually think I’ve heard Vollhonk a fair bit. Usually aimed in my direction…
German girlfriend/wife?
I think you mean that “Horst” is a male christian- or first- name, not surname. Always nice to have these sort of things at one’s disposal!
Oh, right: For some reason I keep mixing these up. Danke!!
Oh. Ich hab schon bemerkt, dass du deine Seite ganz überarbeitet hast. Sieht gut aus. Mach weiter so
Dude1 – Hast du gehört, was Emanuel getan hat?
Dude2 – Ja, er hat noch ein Tippfehler im Artikel gestellt.
Dude1 – So ein Horst.
Fröhliche Weihnachten kumpel.
Du bist voll der Hammer.
Alles gute zum neuen Jahr.
Haha, danke, dir auch :)!!
Toll, dass du immer noch dabei bist, nach all den Jahren.
Der arme Johnny ist immer der Depp vom Film :(
Genau :)